Mining bill clears another hurdle

Committee approves bill on party-line vote

The Legislature's powerful Joint Committee on Finance Monday approved a bill to reform mining-permitting regulations in Wisconsin. The 12-4 vote along party lines is another step forward for a proposed iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.

The Republican-controlled committee's vote sends the bill on to the full Senate and Assembly. The Senate is expected to take it up on Wednesday. A similar mining bill failed in the Senate last year.

The Assembly is expected to take up the bill next week.

The four Democrats on the committee tried to amend the bill in ways they said would offer more environmental, public health and safety protections. All the Democratic amendments failed on party-line votes.

Rep. Cory Mason, D-Racine, called the bill a "sweetheart deal" for Gogebic Taconite, the company interested in mining iron ore in Ashland and Iron counties, just south of Lake Superior.

"We have very real concerns that this bill is as deeply flawed today as it was a year ago. We seem hellbent on going forward with a deeply flawed bill that won't create any jobs other than for the lawyers who will be litigating this for years to come," Mason said.

Republicans on the committee said the bill would create good-paying jobs in a part of the state that badly needs them.

"What we're doing is approving a permitting process," said Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills. "There's going to be a huge economic revival in this area."

Emotions flared during the debate when Republican Sen. Glenn Grothman of West Bend accused Democrats on the committee of "making stuff up" about the mine and its potential environmental impacts.

"When you make generalizations that imply we're just disregarding all these environmental safeguards in the best interests of a mine, it is striking to me, it sort of gets at our integrity," Darling added.

Rep. Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, countered that the mining bill is a major change to state environmental standards.